It was an interesting NBA Summer League for the Dallas Mavericks. Some players were chewed up and torn out, and some became young risers, but Morez Johnson Jr. got a bad grade from the guys at ESPN for his performance and was labeled the "most inconsistent rookie," even though he only played two games.
The dominant Johnson Jr. came out with full force in his debut. He scored 27 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. He was all over the place, but what's confusing is ESPN's evaluation. He honestly shouldn't have even suited up for the rest of summer league after the first game, and apparently, that ended up backfiring on him.
Ben Golliver from ESPN says Johnson Jr. was just as advertised when Dallas drafted him. He showed the same physicality that increased his stock in the first place. However, after his debut against the Golden State Warriors, he became too physical and fouled a lot.
"Unfortunately, Johnson looked like a completely different player in the Mavericks' next game, a loss to the Lakers. He committed seven fouls in 28 minutes, looked a step slow to react to the action in the paint and finished with just 10 points and five rebounds as the Mavericks were outscored by 22 points in his 28 minutes."
ESPN's criticism of Morez Johnson Jr. feels like it's missing context
His first game was enough to say that he's ready to compete, but Johnson Jr. got the best of him against the Los Angeles Lakers. But that's still not enough to say he's an inconsistent player, especially if he only played in two games.
He's going to be working on staying out of foul trouble, but he may not even have to worry about that, assuming P.J. Washington starts over him in the regular season. With Washington in the midst of trade rumors, that may bump Johnson Jr. up the depth chart, but anything is possible.
One thing we can say is he's going to need to expand his shooting range. He's going to get there at some point, but he's already been in the gym working out. Sergio De Larrea and Johnson Jr. already went viral across DFW in a video when they were practicing and connected with a Johnson Jr. 3-point shot.
The reason why fans should be pumped is that the former Michigan forward is a dominant glue guy who's going to be one of the toughest on the team. There's nothing to change there, but playing in the NBA is about playing smart, and at 20 years old, he's got years to learn that.
Golliver added that Johnson Jr. can help win games by exhausting the opposition. As long as he can play his role and be patient, he's going to kill it out on the court.
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